Ok, we are slightly recovered.  I’m cheating today and counting last night’s / this morning’s beer as my beer for today: The Aventinus Weizen Doppel Bock.  This is an award-winning beer and deservedly so.  Wow.  This beer kicked my behind — but it was awesome!  I brought some home to enjoy again … And I have to say, Schneider-Weisse makes great beer.

We continued our journey today (actually concluded it) by visiting the Weltenburg Kloster.  This place is beautiful … and they make award-winning beer as well.  I will tell more about the beers as I drink my six-pack of beers (over six different days).  In the meantime, enjoy a couple of pictures from this Baroque style Abbey/Church.

Oh, for the successful trip — see this picture of my “Beer Booty.” LOL

Beer Mentor

Today my friends and I started on a journey.  It was to visit 4 different breweries … we figured two a day would work for us!  The rough itinerary was as follows:

SATURDAY

1) Visit Weihenstephan Brewery (oldest active brewery in the world: 1040 AD).

The “German Beer Purity Law” was announced on the steps of the Weihenstephan Monastery in 1516 … We planned on stopping here for lunch at their “Braustuberl” … it was excellent!  The beer for today was actually the Weihenstephaner Vitus.  “Nummy … this beer is delightful.”  It is a Weizenbock (a theme for the day …) and really went down smooth.

2) Visit Schlossbrau au Hallertau (brewing since 1590 AD).

(We are visiting this place because it’s in the middle of the Hallertau hops growing region.)

After a short drive, we arrived at the Schossbrau au Hallertau … we went down into their beer cellar and took the time to enjoy one of their cold brews … very nice, very smooth.  They had several interesting displays set up — many incorporated hops/hops flowers.  In one of the pictures below, I’m standing in front of a large wort chiller — yes!

From here, we made our way to our hotel in Kelheim (and our hotel was actually in an old brewery …).  From the hotel we walked over to the next stop on our trip.
3) Visit Schneider-Weisse Brewery (oldest Wheat beer brewery in Bavaria).

This brewery in Kelheim has been brewing wheat beer since 1607 AD.  This place was the highlight of the trip! We were very lucky (in the right place at the right time) and were able to tour the brewery (that will be another post).  We were also trying to find some tickets to this brewery’s annual (38th actually) Aventinus Fest — this beer is their Weizen (doppel) bock.  Wow!  What a kick this beer had!

We were very fortunate to meet the Braumeister himself – Georg Schneider the sixth.  He was a very nice man and humored us by taking a picture with us.

We eventually did get tickets to the fest … and it was a grand time.  The beer glasses kept getting bigger … yes.  A great evening at a great event!

Tomorrow’s post will follow up on the fourth stop on our oldest brewery tour:

SUNDAY
4) Visit Weltenburg Kloster Brewery (oldest Kloster brewery in the world: 1050 AD).

Beer Mentor

My friend recently made a trip to Croatia and graciously brought back a beer for me to try.  It is called Karlovacko (except the c has a little thing over it on the can).

This was a pleasant enough beer.  It is brewed by Karlovačka pivovara in Karlovac. (thanks Wikipedia!)  This lager beer was in style for the type of beer .. and since it was free, it was even better!

Beer Mentor

I brought back a few beers from my trip to Norway since I didn’t have time to finish them there PLUS I needed some for different days — you know, 180 beers in 180 days!  While I was in Norway I met a couple of Austrian fellows and they were kind enough to provide me a couple of Austrian beers.  I posted one on an earlier link … today’s beer is made by the Zipfer brewery.

The actual beer is their Maerzen.  A nice brew with subtle characteristics.  This is a beer to be enjoyed … and I did!

Beer Mentor

There are some who will find this choice for me ironic — others will just wonder why I’m drinking a Philippine beer while in Germany.  Let’s just say — that’s what was available at the Mexican Place again — LOL.

So, today’s beer comes from the Philippines (actually, i think this one is brewed in Europe somewhere under contract) – San Miguel Premium Pilsener.     Actually, both today’s and yesterday’s beers … although from different parts of the world … have their roots in Czech Pilseners … something the German’s have used as well.  So, it’s like I’m having German Beers with these different countries’ beers…

I enjoyed drinking this one — probably not my favorite, but a nice beer in style.

Beer Mentor

We’ve been hanging out a lot lately at the Mexican Restaurant … kind of funny, really!  So, I’m working my way through some of the Mexican Beers … today’s is Bohemia.

From Wikipedia: “Bohemia takes its name from the Czech region that is one of the most recognized brewing areas in the World. It was launched at the turn of the 20th century as Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma’s finest beer. Over the years, it has become the most awarded of Mexican beers. It’s a pale pilsner.”

This is actually a very nice beer.  Very smooth.

Beer Mentor

Today I was trying to rest — I think I was shaking off a little bug … so I decided to have my last Gordon’s Finest — the Gordon’s Finest Red Ale.  The nice thing about this Malt Liquor was that I didn’t have to drink all of it! LOL!

I’m sure if you like Malt Liquors, this beer is for you — but it definitely is not my favorite.

Beer Mentor

Went to dinner tonight at a Chinese restaurant.  Oh, and I ordered my Tsingtao Beer in Chinese AND the lady understood me and brought it out … so for those of you who doubted what I’ve said before, I actually can order a Tsingtao beer in Chinese!! LOL

我想一青岛啤酒，请。

(Oh, I took these pictures with my new camera tripod — thanks, Jill!!)
The brewery was founded by German immigrants to China in 1903 … so I feel justified drinking it AND adding it to my list of beers …
So, after ordering this thing … I drank it.  Then I drank another.  Obviously, it is my favorite Chinese Beer.

Beer Mentor

I kept hearing about this brewery in downtown Stuttgart: Calwer-Eck … and I finally made it over there.  Unfortunately, it was about 2am on Saturday morning.  I had one of their Pilseners but I’m going to have to go back again so that I can really remember the taste/flavor for this post.

This is Stuttgart’s first microbrewery — opened in 1987.  All of their beer is fresh (unfiltered and unpasteurized) — I remember it was very good, but I’d like to try the Weizen…
Suffice it to say that I had my 121st beer on Saturday Morning …

Beer Mentor

I received my 120th beer at my favorite local Mexican Food restaurant.  My friend (and the owner) enjoyed my story about a different beer every day and he provided me with quite a unique beer for my 120th: the Schorschbraeu “16% ABV Schorsch Weizen.”

This beer is classified as the strongest Wheat Beer in the world following the Germany Purity Law.  This means there are no adjuncts in this beer — it has only the 4 ingredients — hops, malt, yeast, and water.

They also have another beer with 40% ABV!!  Ha ha!  This brewery is only a couple of hours from here — I’ve already called and asked for a tour of the brewery.  I should be heading over that way in the next couple of weeks.  Wait for a follow-on post.

This beer (in my mind) is comparable to the Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA … it is also a sweet tasting beer and it leaves that lingering alcohol (warm) finish in the back of the mouth.  It was actually a quite pleasant beer to drink.  Give it a try if you can get one!

Beer Mentor